Madigan made... A thrifty trip and blogger fun!
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Did any of you go out for "I <3 Thrifting" Day this past Saturday??
I was delighted to join the group that Diane from In My Own Style put together right outside of Philadelphia. I've read Diane's blog for awhile and knew she lived outside of Philly, but never realized she was so close!
Aaand... this was my first time meeting people in-person through blogging. I've never been to a blogger conference or meet-up. I was a bit nervous. But this was a nice, small event and I had fun meeting some local bloggers!
I met Diane along with Holly (West Pear Avenue) and Janis (The Magic that is Thrift) at the first store.
We started at 10 am and met at the 2nd Avenue Value Store.
Diane warned us that this was the cleanest, neatest thrift store she'd ever shopped.
She was right! Just look at the rack behind us. Even the smallest items were perfectly bagged and tagged!
Janis found this great children's desk for her twin boys for under $10!
Holly found some awesome dining chairs that she plans to paint. (They were classic and sturdy. A great find. I think Diane snapped a picture of them.)
And I learned a new thrifty tip: check out the linens section of thrift stores. Three of us found some beautiful printed sheets for home decor projects for under $3 a piece!
I love the soft colors and watercolor effect of my fabric. Not sure what I'm going to make out if it yet. A purse? An apron? Hmmm.
After we paid for those finds, we headed over to Impact Thrift Store in Montgomeryville.
The Impact store manager, Pepper, was awesome! He gave us a great overview of the store and Impact's charitable mission and organization. Pepper reviewed some insider store policies with us (Did you know they start marking prices down after things sit in the store for a week?) and showed us the silent auction section, too. I've been to this thrift store before and never knew about that area!
And Pepper was kind enough to give us some coupons and free Impact chapstick! We didn't expect it, but what a neat idea!
This Impact was a huge store! We spent a lot of time shopping here. I found a couple of great purchases.
I always keep my eyes out for certain items whenever I go thrifting. And I found two items that were on my mental shopping list: a quilt rack (my mother-in-law has been looking for one) and an old fashioned sled for holiday porch decor (pictured at the end of this post).
After Impact, we went to Panera for lunch.
It was so nice to sit down and chat with everyone. We exchanged blogging advice, thrifting tips and laughs. Diane shared with us some amazing stories about her days on a TV show about decorating (before HGTV was even around) and getting her decor book published.
After we had our fill of great food and dialogue, we said good-bye to Janis. And the rest of us ventured over to the Salvation Army.
By this point, I think the group was getting a little tired. The tell tale sign of our low energy was that we all starting picking up random funky or ugly stuff for a laugh vs. focused shopping.
Like this um, interesting, boy statue and a ceramic Liberty Bell.
And the fatigue may explain why my photos started to blur, too! LOL!
My finds: an old sled, brass vases/containers, fabric, candle sticks and a truly awesome cake stand with a lid (That I almost did not get, but was convinced by my thrifty companions to buy! Thanks, ladies!). Not pictured: a quilt rack for my MIL.
I went home, unpacked my goodies and jumped online to check out some new blogs... How fun it is to look around someone's blog after you've met them in person?? What a great perspective!
AND I want to thank Rashon Carraway (Mr. Goodwill Hunting) for coming up with and organizing the I <3 Thrifting event on a national level. What a great idea!
I came home with my car and memory full of treasures from the day!
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